


i found love where it wasn't supposed to be (right in front of me)

by actualtaracole (freaking_intelligent_fangirl)



Series: adventures in non-linear narratives [1]
Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, Non-Linear Narrative
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:25:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22276432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freaking_intelligent_fangirl/pseuds/actualtaracole
Summary: Prompt:Matt and Khris are boyfriends, discuss
Relationships: Khris Davis/Matt Chapman
Series: adventures in non-linear narratives [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603984
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: MLB Offseason Shortform Ficathon





	i found love where it wasn't supposed to be (right in front of me)

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [allegheny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allegheny/pseuds/allegheny) in the [mlb_offseason_shortform](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/mlb_offseason_shortform) collection. 

> The title was blatantly stolen from I Found by Amber Run. It is a great song and I spent far too much time listening to it when I was writing this fic.

2.  
“Don’t close up so much,” KD says as he pushes Matt’s legs open in the batter’s box, and Matt is viciously grateful for the sunburn that hides his blush.

23.  
Nadira Chapman-Davis looks around her bedroom with a critical eye. “I like it,” she pronounces. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

5.  
Khris throws his head back and laughs at one of Matt’s stupider jokes, his Adam’s apple prominent in the line of his neck, and Matt’s stomach sinks.

19.  
“How about Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with yours?” Matty asks. Khris puts his dumbbells down, his set done. Matty picks them up.

“Sounds perfect. My grandma is going to love you.”

3.  
“You’re staring again,” Marcus tells him, and Khris snaps his eyes from Matt to his friend, and doesn't say anything.

13.  
Matt cradles his face in his hands and kisses him like every cliche in the book; like fireworks like he’s a drowning man desperate for air like he’s dying in the desert and Khris is the only water for a hundred miles, like he never wants to stop - and Khris never wants it to end.

21.  
They had talked about it, the two of them alone, then with Marcus, and then with a counselor, and everyone agreed that it was time. Matty is sitting next to him when Khris makes his retirement official. Marcus watches from the front row.

15.  
Matt is gone when Khris wakes up in the morning, his side of the bed cold, and Khris fights down the disappointment that swells in his chest as he gets out of bed and pulls on the shorts he threw off the night before.

He makes it halfway to his kitchen before he collides with Matt, who looks at him sheepishly. “I was just coming to get you. I made breakfast.” Khris stares at him, a little dazed.

“I thought you had left.”

1.  
KD gives him a wide, gap-toothed smile and a hug when Matt gets called up, and Marcus laughs at his shell shocked expression.

20.  
The picture gets plastered over every single baseball blog and news outlet; Khris kissing Matty over the World Series trophy. A framed copy hangs in their living room.

6.  
Khris is painfully aware that he’s one of the oldest players on the team, and he never feels more like a creepy old man than when he stares at Chappy for too long.

9.  
“Take a picture man, it’ll last longer,” says Marcus, punching Chappy in the shoulder as he walks by him on his way to the showers. Khris looks up, skin still damp from his shower and Matt looks away before he can see him staring.

22.  
“It’s weird,” Marcus agrees, staring at the twenty-year-old across the clubhouse that got Khris’s old locker. “When did we get so old?”

4.  
“You owe me food truck tacos,” Khris says after a game in the middle of July; Matt doesn’t say anything in response, just stands up grabs his bag, and follows Khris out of the clubhouse.

They’re halfway through their tacos and a beer in before Matt realizes that no one else is coming, it’s just him and Khris - the thought makes him smile, a warm glow settling into his stomach.

7.  
“Shit, we had plans today,” Matt says, standing shirtless in his doorway. He beckons Khris inside, and the smell of weed hits him full force. He scoffs and looks anywhere besides at Matt’s ass when he bends over. He stands up with a blunt in his fingers. “You want a hit before we leave?” Khris should say no, he knows it’s been long enough since he smoked that he wouldn’t be able to leave Matt’s house if he did; and besides, he’s too old for that sort of thing. He should offer to reschedule. He should leave.

He doesn’t.

11.  
“I just… I can’t play second fiddle to someone else anymore Matty. I love you, and I think you love me too, but it’s not fair to either of us if we keep this going while you have serious feelings for one of your teammates.” She kisses him on the forehead and leaves Matt stunned, sitting on his sofa.

17.  
Khris sucks a hickey on the inside of Matty’s thigh and he makes a choked off whimper. He stops. Looks up. “This okay?” Matty just nods, his eyes glazed over and his lips red and swollen, but he’s clenching his jaw so tight that Khris can see it from his place in between his legs. He moves up on the bed so that they’re face to face. “Matty, what’s wrong?”

“My last… partner didn’t like that I could be… noisy sometimes. Said it wasn’t masculine or whatever,” he says, an embarrassed flush high on his cheeks. Khris resists the urge to track down his ex and beat some sense into them. Instead, he presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Be as loud as you want. It’s how I know I’m doing my job right.”

8.  
Chappy hits the first walk-off of his career, a three-run **bomb** off a Rays closer that you couldn’t pay Khris to remember, erasing an abysmal 2 for 9 w/RISP, seven men left on base and a particularly frustrating double play that he had grounded into. Everyone pours out of the dugout, but Khris keeps himself back. He knows his stupid crush is more obvious then he wants it to be, and he needs to put some distance between him and Chappy. But he finds Khris anyway and sweeps him up into a hug, and when he lets go he’s sweaty and grinning, and Khris pats him on the shoulder and walks away before he does something he would regret.

14.  
Matt trips over Khris’s welcome mat as they stumble into his house, and pulls Khris down with him as he lands on his back with a soft _oof_. They look at each other for a moment, before bursting into laughter.

18.  
“I’m sorry,” is all Matty says, standing in Khris’s doorway, bags from Khris’s favorite takeout place on the other side of the city under his arms; Khris lets him in.

25\.   
Khris sits in the middle of the field of the old-new Coliseum and tries his hardest not to cry when the video of past teammates and coaches tells him how much he meant to them as a friend, a mentor, and a ballplayer. Matty, Marcus, and Nadira wait for him by his brand new statue outside the home plate gate, and their wedding rings shine in the California sunlight.

12.  
“I hate seeing you this broken up man,” Marcus says. “You’ve gotta do something about it, bottling up all your feelings isn’t gonna work in the long term, and you know it.”

“What would you do?” Khris asks, fiddling with the label on his beer.

“Well, first I wouldn’t fall for a white frat boy that’s four years younger than me.” Khris throws peanuts at him and Marcus laughs. They drink in silence for a bit before Marcus speaks again, serious. “Tell him how you feel. I’ve got a hunch it’ll work out better than you think.”

10.  
Matt has… a girl in the clubhouse with him, as they celebrate their wild card clinch with friends and family. Khris sees her lean into him, sees him wrap an arm around her waist and whisper something in her ear, sees her laugh; he turns away, the cheap light beer he’s drinking not enough to wash the bitter taste of jealousy out of his mouth.

24.  
Khris and Nadira stare at him with matching pleading expressions and Matt’s resolve crumbles in seconds.

“Fine,” he says. “But only because you two are gonna be the ones at home taking care of her.” The “her” in question barks excitedly in Khris’s arms. He gives his daughter a high five.

“Sucker,” scoffs Marcus.

16.  
They’re eating breakfast in companionable silence when Matt speaks. 

“I think I’m in love with you too.” Khris almost chokes on his orange juice. He turns to face Matt, who’s already looking at him, face wide open and honest. “I realized that I never actually said anything last night. You had that big speech and I kissed you and then we made it back here and I thought that was enough I thought ‘surely there’s no way he doesn’t know’ but then you said,” he stops for a breath. “You said you thought I left.” He grabs Khris’s hand and looks him in the eyes. “So I’m telling you now, so there can’t be any confusion, I have feelings for you too.” Khris pulls Matt towards him and kisses him, desperately trying to convey all his jumbled up emotions in a kiss.

Their breakfast gets cold. They order lunch instead.


End file.
